R. Holmes and Co.

(1906)Being the Remarkable Adventures of Raffles Holmes, Esq, Detective And Amateur Cracksman By BirthA novel by John Kendrick Bangs

While Sherlock Holmes remains one of the most famous people who ever lived (George Bernard Shaw claimed his only equals were Jesus Christ and Hamlet in terms of recognition), his popularity was briefly equaled (or nearly so) during the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras by a figure much more obscure today: A.J. Raffles, the amateur cracksman, gentleman jewel thief, and noted cricketer.

And while Arthur Conan Doyle is a name known to every literate soul, Raffles's creator is hardly a household name. Curiously, E.W. Hornung, the author of a couple of dozen books between 1890 and 1923, was Doyle's brother-in-law. It seems likely that he created his famous gentleman crook to tweak the nose of the stuffy Doyle by making a rogue the hero of his own books.

John Kendrick Bangs was a hugely popular American humorist during the same years in which Doyle and Hornung flourished, and he practically made a career of writing parodies of their two famous protagonists.